Elder Scrolls: The Feudal contract
by Da awesome ninja 968
Summary: Taren joins a group of vampire hunters. After a betrayl joins the Dark Brotherhood. Meanwhile a Dark elf named Ravine is a Boethiah Cultist who betrays her friend and family and joins a High Rock guild that protects the realm. But when Taren kills all her superiors they must form an unlikley alliance to save Tamriel. My friend wrote this credit to him.
1. Prolouge

14th last seed 400 4th era

I have found what my grandfather died for, the place my father scolded my interest in, the place I believe his bones still lay, the once great Falkreath Sanctuary. I Forenius the doubted have found the family heirloom, the legacy of defeating the dark brotherhood.

Forenius closed the journal, looked around and pulled the parchment from his pocket and read aloud the words 'silence my brother', with that, the cracked, scorched door in front of him swung open and he descended into the sanctuary below. Forenius walked past the desk at the entrance, the courtyard and dining room and then came across an arcaeic labaratory, next to a pit that housed a frostbite spider carcass and a pile of bones. Forenius leapt down into the hole and walked towards the skeleton and picked up a note next to it, the handwriting, the eccentric nature, the SIGNATURE. This was his grandfather's skeleton, Forenius ran his fingers up against the tough, coarse bone and began to feel something in his eye, as remorse and pain crawled up his legs and to his stomach. Forenius then took it upon himself to read the note. This was it, everything Forenius had sought after for so long, a detailed summary of how He had found the sanctuary and how much knowledge of the sanctuary he had. The pain began to set it.

Forenius felt a tear building up in his eye when he heard something scurrying around behind him, drawing his dagger, he turned around to see a monstrous sight, the mighty frostbite spider 'liz' may have been dead, but her offspring wasn't. The tear finally left his eye, now mourning two losses. Forenius's blood hit the floor before the tear.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Awakenings

Taren woke in an instant, the soul gem sitting where he left it, on the stand with the soul syphon that his father had built before his untimely death, you see Taren had clearly inherited his father's abilities of scavenging and ingenuity. The original plans for the syphon stand were for it to be used as a home defence mechanism, however, Taren soon found that not long after the dragon crisis ended, skyrim had become a far more peaceful place to live, not only was the dragon threat vanquished, but the imperial legion quickly gained a victory over the stormcloaks, this gave them a greater hold over the land, allowing them to tackle bandit raids and theft far easier, so the stand was merely used to jolt Taren slightly into waking. Taren rarely used the system, but nevertheless there the soul gem sat ready for the next slight shock. The young man leapt out of the bed, which was made from the pelt of two wolves and oak straight from valenwood and immediately began began preparing for his first day with the dawnguard, he practically jumped into his leather and steel armour, which was strong enough to withstand a blow to the face from an elven arrow and then used the telekinesis spell to fetch his crossbow, which was pre-loaded with a bolt designed to fracture upon impact in order to maximise the deadly impact. The last thing Taren would be, was late.

Taren kicked open the riften gate and jumped off the gate onto the roof of the stable, he then swung from the roof and jumped onto his horse with perfect precision and off into the woods they rode. Taren and Banshire rode past caves, lakes, villages, towns, cascading waterfalls and fallen watchtowers. Until finally, he and Banshire were at the border where they were ordered to halt by an Imperial guard 'stop right there. By order of the emperor, all travellers, merchants, sellswords, farmers, adventurers and any other such citizen of the empire or otherwise who wishes to keep his or her head, must have their papers examined by a member of the Imperial Legion.' Taren promptly smiled and rustled in his satchel for his papers. 'I believe you'll find everything you need on these.' Taren said as he held out the travellers documents. The legionnaire seemed intrigued as he read through the documents, these papers had every detail about Taren's being, from his date and location of birth, to his career prospects, it was law that at the the end of the year, these papers were to be updated by an imperial scribe. The soldier continued to look amongst the documents until finally he remarked 'Ah a member of the Dawnguard, eh? I thought you people were beginning to become a niche group, but you seem all right for a budding vampire fighter.'

'Those sheets only detail the fact I am with the dawnguard, not how long I have been with them. How could you have possibly known that I am new to the group?'

'You don't have the look of an experienced vampire hunter, when someone has been fighting the undead for years then they usually adopt the look of a stern, stoic warrior'

'Fair enough' Taren conceded before trotting off on his horse.

They continued to trot down the unusually warm road, until Taren came across a river where he decided to unmount and take a drink, the water was cool, refreshing and restored his energy like a potion of vigorous stamina. But something was off. Before he could investigate, two wolves leapt from the shadows cast by the nearby trees. Taren quickly drew his sword and ducked away from the first pouncing wolf, before grabbing his shield and Pounding the second into the ground, he turned his head, expecting to see the first beginning a second attack, only to see his horse kicking at the wolf. The sword went forward and stabbed the wolf as the second was turned into a bloody mess. The second wolf appeared to be but a cub and the first it's remaining parental figure, Taren saw the remaining pelt of the youthful creature, but felt no pang in his stomach, no great pain within himself. No guilt.

They continued along the road until they came across the Dawnguard castle, upon his arrival, Taren's best friend Ulysses ran up to him, the cobble roads rattled with theirh collisions with his iron boots. 'Oi Taren, ready for your initiation?' Taren nodded and dismounted, leaving his horse at the stables near the courtyard just in front of the castle. The two men trotted along the cobbled path to the stone stairs. When they arrived, Taren began to talk about the vampire crisis, about how it had the potential to overthrow the deadly force that the dragon crisis posed not that long ago, the two of them quickly displayed their thoughts. Ulysses was very concerned about the subject, whereas Taren was eager to wage war against the creatures. They soon arrived at the the huge gates to the stronghold where Cindral was waiting for him 'ah, you're here' the old redguard said as soon as they entered the marble halls 'I was beginning to worry that the wolves had gotten you' 'oh they were no problem' 'so, where do I get my official dawnguard membership ring?' Taren said jokingly, Cindral pointed him in the direction of the armory and began to describe the mission Taren would take 'it is called the twilight sepulchre, supposed stronghold and patrol base of the legendary nightingales, the leaders of the thieves guild, who just so happen to be situated in your own hometown, riften. Inside the twilight sepulchre is the rumoured home of the legendary vampire Agrivore, known for killing hundreds of our men in the dawnguard wars, and for keeping a small army of fledglings around him at all times, it is your mission to make your way through the twilight sepulchre and destroy Agrivore and his fledglings. Do this and you shall join our ranks. You are authorised to take 30 crossbow bolts from the armory.' Cindral started to walk away before stopping and saying 'one other thing, Ulysses will be accompanying you on this mission'

Taren walked outside to feel the Cyrodiilic sun gloss over his densely packed leather and steel armour, bathing him in the heat of a flame atronach, he realised that it would take a small while to get from the dawnguard castle to the twilight sepulchre, so he began to plot a route.

When he and Ulysses arrived at Agrivore's lair, it was almost midday, but inside the cave's doors it was just as dark as any other time, torches kept a grim, hollow light, while skeletons littered the stone floor and septims scattered the crevices between the stones that kept the roof aloft. On either side of the entranceway, there were two coffins housing The bones of heroes long forgotten, perhaps some of which were guild masters that wore the revered grey cowl the halls were made of an unidentifiable black rock with relatively smooth centres which held together the razor sharp edges of the bricks. Banners depicting shadow images of people and various objects littered the walls, the majority of which were tattered and held together by threads, the halls themselves were cramped, claustrophobic, with walls barely able to sustain one person. As the two of them wandered down the corridors descending deeper and deeper into the stone fortress, they noticed rotted wood hanging from the ceiling, with long rusted iron hanging from the twisted oak, clearly lights were lit goat horns would hang from to give light to the rock staircase. As they entered the next room, Taren caught sight of a group of vile falmer (the twisted remaining form of the mighty snow elves) lurking in the shadows, no more than three were visible, this should be no problem for two warriors of the dawnguard. Taren beckoned Ulysses to follow and Ulysses obliged, the two of them stalking forward across the grey stone floor towards the creatures, soon, they finally were right next to one of them whom of was swiftly stabbed by Taren's blade, another fell victim to Ulysses' axe, the last of the trio was thrown against the wall by Taren, before a swift shot of his crossbow, the first however, stabbed Ulysses in the left arm socket with it's scythe, which was made from the same stone as the walls. Ulysses cried out at the pain. Taren turned around only to see the second running at him with an indescribable weapon, he quickly dodged to the left and plunged his sword into its stomach. Satisfied with their work, the two of them walked towards the door before hearing a strange sound behind them, and from the dark leapt at least five falmer gloomlurkers. The new crowd was far stronger than the ones that they had just faced, as evident by the two arrows lodged within Ulysses' shield in the first three seconds with a third and forth soon to come. Taren managed to bash one into a wall dazing it, but they were outnumbered and outmatched, all seemed lost, until a blazing green light projected in all directions, with Ulysses as the centre, suddenly all of the falmer stopped attacking and began pacing the room, giving the two of them their chance to escape. It must have been hours before they escaped the narrow corridors and found themselves in an open room once more, this one was far bigger than the last, and had far more falmer in it, the room was filled to the brim with twisting, wide pathways, that began at ground level and slowly made their way, through turns and intersections, to the darkness that smothered the ceiling. Small huts were strewn across the river of grey, all of which were made entirely of chaurus chitin, several tables were around the open area, all of which were housing all manner of poison. The moment the two of them entered the room, they were ambushed by five different falmer, instinctively, Taren went for his sword but when he tried, he realised that one of them was grabbing his arms with its long, boney, withered, infected hands. He tried looking up, only to be met with a blinding light emitting from the creatures hand.

Taren woke up in a strange, hollow, grey cone, lit gently by ragged green gems hanging from the ceiling, by looking a little downwards, he was able to get a good view of one of the falmer who, assumably captured him, the creature had an appearance almost reminiscent of a skeleton, with the flesh strongly clenching to the bones, to the point where Taren could see the cracks and bumps in the bone, the face was scrunched together, with the eyes permanently closed. The scalp of the beast was smooth and hairless, the ears, torn and ragged.

The creature eventually began to leave and at that very moment, Taren leapt into action by grabbing him by the throat and covering the mouth, the falmer quickly fell and Taren was able to escape. Luckily, they hadn't taken his gear, so he thought he would have to fight his way out, until he left the hut and saw Ulysses standing over a pile of bodies, with blood all over his gauntlets, Taren simply smiled and the two walked on.

wasn't long before they came across a magnificent statue of a snow elf, broken, cracked, but mostly intact. In the eye sockets lay a large crystal, Taren began to walk towards the head, Ulysses instructed him to stop, but his headstrong and greedy nature prevented him from moving away, but before he could touch the eye, a crossbow bolt struck him in the back, the next thing he saw was Ulysses walking away.

As Taren struck the ground, he realised his crossbow was still loaded, in mere moments, he had pulled the trigger, sending the bolt flying towards Ulysses, the carvings pointed toward the back, the bolt smashed on impact, knocking him to the floor.

Taren's energy was suddenly gone.

Taren slipped from consciousness.


	3. Chapter 2 Rebirth

Chapter 2: rebirth

When Taren woke up he was in a shrine made entirely of black, jagged, shadowy stone, all the furniture though, was made from dark oak, with animal pelts made from the hide of some sort of Nordic creature, likely from the border near Morrowind, as evident by the yellow-red tan that the fur possessed. Skulls littered the tables and shelves, each a different creature, human, troll, wolf, fox, frost troll, goblin, imp, hive worker, frostbite spider, stout, wispmother, minotaur, dremora, netch and many others. Throughout the room, banners of red and black were hung, each, housing a distinct weapon, none of which he could name, nor weald, and on one wall, a dagger made entirely of orichalum sat. 'Hello' said a voice, Taren turned around to see a kajiit woman dressed in the same red and black as the banners. 'I see that your wounds have successfully healed from that crossbow bolt' Taren began to look at the wall behind her and saw a small door, but instead of running to it, he asked 'what province am I in?' 'Valenwood' was the reply. At that moment, the feeling of betrayal washed over Taren, all at once he felt guilt, anger, remorse, sadness and joy to be alive, he then began to think of the memories he and Ulysses had shared together, before his old friend ran off to join the dawnguard at a young age, abandoning his freinds and family. In that moment, the guilt and remorse washed away quicker than it had arrived, and Taren felt nought but anger and lust for revenge.

'You are now faced with a challenge to join the brotherhood' 'to earn the key and the keyword, simply use the blade on the wall to kill the warriors behind you.' Taren was handed the dagger and before he could ask why, he was sent flying across the room. Two warriors then charged towards him, one of which he ducked away from, and the other he jumped over, doing a forward role on their back before propelling himself off the warrior's lower spine. It was then when he finally got a good look at them, the first was an orc man clad completely in iron, the other was a wood elf woman in ivory. Both wielded war hammers made of steel. Taren quickly rushed at the wood elf and grabbed the hammer, pushing it to one side, before shoving the dagger into her throat. The orc charged again, this time knocking his opponent into a wall, Taren got up as swiftly as he could and grabbed the hammer, as the orc once again charged, Taren tripped him up with the weapon's handle and, in mid air, stabbed him.

The Kajiit woman, almost silently, tossed the key in his direction and announced, two west of the direct centre, death my brother. And disappeared in a flash of red light. Taren was left with a choice, join the dark brotherhood, or face Ulysses alone, and in times like these, its better to have a group of deadly mercenaries behind you.

When Taren arrived at the sanctuary, it was nearing sunset. The trees of Valenwood were as green as the brightest Cyrrodyllic grass, the stone however, as dark as the mace of molag bal, with the same green tinge and sharp edge. As Taren began to utter the passphrase he heard several rocks falling against each other, by the time he had completed answering the question (what is the night mother's greatest reward) the rocks stopped falling. The great stone door suddenly slid open slightly and began to slowly open, allowing Taren to silently step in. The moment he was a meter away from the door, it slammed itself shut. The young warrior began to traverse the stone corridors and soon came across a small map room filled to the brim with scrolls of sneaking, invisibility, bound dagger, bound bow, levitation, detect life, and many more, along with, of course, maps of every city, town, village, province, and dungeon in tamriel. And above the table that housed the map of hammerfell was an old argonion mage wearing red and black robes similar to what the khajiiit wore in the hut. As Taren approached, he felt a hand grab his shoulder, he turned to see the same argonion who had disappeared, it was then when Taren finally got a good look at him, he appeared to be in his mid to late seventies, with old, sometimes cracked scales, these scales were red around his face and the sides of his head, the top of his head and neck were clad in green scales, apart from the wrinkles and cracks his face seemed relatively unharmed, which was more than could be said about his tail which was covered in dark green scales, the majority of which were peeling away most likely from the tail being bent drastically and consistently with many long, deep scars throughout, likely from the tail being used as a weapon or shield.

'Are you Taren?' He said in a rough, remorseless voice. Taren replied 'yes', the argonion's grimace emerged into a fatherly smile 'in that case, welcome to the sanctuary brother, I am stabs-in-dark, The leader of this sanctuary, welcome to the family' he then turned and rummaged around in a cupboard before handing Taren a set of leather armour that was pitch black with the notable exception of a red fist directly in the centre, a faint glow emanated from all the pieces of the apparel, a clear sign of enchantments. 'Thank you.' Taren stated before being confronted with an orc who was huge even by orcish standards. The orc wore a manner of black chainmail splint armor that was, in many ways, very similar to Tarens set. His face was heavily dominated by his great canine teeth, which reached up far past his lips and nearly towards his nose, his hair was swept out of his face, ideal for wearing a tight helmet.

'Hail Sithis brother!' The orc said 'I am Alagog, speaker of the ring finger, you have been assigned as my silencer, a normal assassin, I look forward to hearing of your kills' 'and hear of them you shall' Taren replied, before trudging up the stairs to the bed quarters, as he lay in his bed he thought to himself, "Ulysses I'm coming for you."


End file.
